Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1,000 Jewish Recipes (271 page)
3 large eggs
1
1
â
2
cups grated Swiss cheese (about 5 ounces)
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1
â
2
cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope dry yeast (
1
â
4
ounce or 2
1
â
2
teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
About 2
3
â
4
cups unbleached all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons (
3
â
4
stick) butter, softened
1
1
â
4
teaspoons salt
1.
Set aside 1 egg for glaze, cheese for filling, and sesame seeds for sprinkling. Using remaining ingredients above, prepare
Basic Challah Dough
, prepared by mixer through step 4, adding butter to well along with the yeast mixture in step 2.
2.
Remove dough with rubber spatula to work surface. Knead lightly. Clean bowl if necessary. Return dough to bowl, cover, and let rise again until doubled, about 1 hour.
3.
Grease a 9 Ã 5-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle about
3
â
4
cup grated cheese over a 5-inch square area on work surface. Pat dough out over cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese over dough. Knead cheese lightly into dough. Pat out dough into 9-inch square. Roll up tightly into a cylinder, pressing firmly. Pinch ends and seam tightly. Then roll cylinder again on work surface to press seem further. Place in pan seam-side down.
4.
Cover loaf with a warm, slightly damp cloth and let rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°F.
5.
Beat remaining egg with a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Brush loaf gently with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake about 45 minutes or until top and bottom of bread are firm and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom. Run thin flexible knife carefully around bread. Turn out of pan and cool on rack.
BAGELS
Homemade bagels are easy to make. They taste great and have a wonderful aroma as they bake. They will not be as perfectly shaped as commercial ones but you can be sure they will disappear quickly. Use either a mixer with a dough hook or mix dough by hand. If you're baking them ahead, you can wrap them in plastic and keep them 2 days at room temperature. You can also freeze them and reheat them before serving. (This recipe yields more bagels than other recipes to keep ingredients easier to measure.)
6 cups bread flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
2 envelopes dry yeast (
1
â
2
ounce or 5 teaspoons)
2
1
â
2
tablespoons sugar
1
â
3
cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2
1
â
2
teaspoons salt
2 or 3 teaspoons sesame, poppy, or caraway seeds, or a mixture (optional)
1.
Sift flour into mixer bowl or another large bowl. Make a well in center of flour. Pour in
1
â
2
cup lukewarm water. Sprinkle yeast on top and add 1 teaspoon sugar. Leave 10 minutes until yeast is foamy. Add another 2 teaspoons sugar, oil, 3 of the eggs, remaining
1
â
2
cup plus 2 tablespoons water, and salt to well in center of flour. Mix with dough hook or with a wooden spoon until ingredients begin to come together into a dough. If using mixer, beat dough until smooth. If mixing with a spoon, when adding flour becomes difficult, mix in remaining flour with your hands.
2.
Knead dough vigorously on a work surface about 10 minutes or until very smooth and no longer sticky. Put dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until light but not doubled.
3.
Shape bagels (see
Shaping Bagels
). Then, preheat oven to 400°F. To boil bagels, bring 2 quarts water and 1
1
â
2
tablespoons sugar to a boil in a large saucepan. Add 3 or 4 bagels and boil 1 minute. Turn them over and boil 1 minute. If holes begin to close, force them open with handle of a wooden spoon. With a slotted spoon, transfer them to a cloth or to paper towels. Repeat with remaining bagels.
4.
Put bagels on 2 or 3 lightly floured or greased baking sheets. Beat remaining egg with a pinch of salt. Brush egg over bagels. Sprinkle with seeds, if using.
5.
Bake bagels about 20 minutes or until browned; if baking sheets don't fit on center rack, bake them one above the other and switch their positions after 10 minutes. If not serving them right away, cool them on a rack and wrap them.
Water bagels are made of a dough moistened with water rather than egg. This makes them chewy. One reason for their increasing popularity is that they are cholesterol free and fairly low in fat. I love them sprinkled with seeds, as in this recipe. You can make them in a variety of flavors by adding the same amount of onion, garlic, cheese, nuts, or fruit as in egg bagel recipes. But they also taste very good plain and make tasty sandwiches.
About 4
1
â
4
cups bread flour
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons lukewarm water
1 envelope dry yeast (
1
â
4
ounce or 2
1
â
2
teaspoons)
1
1
â
2
tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
4 or 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1
3
â
4
teaspoons salt
1 large egg or egg white, beaten with a pinch of salt (optional)
2 or 3 teaspoons sesame, poppy, or caraway seeds (optional)
1.
Sift 4 cups flour into a large bowl. Make a well in center. Pour in
1
â
4
cup lukewarm water. Sprinkle yeast on top and add 1 teaspoon sugar. Leave 10 minutes until yeast is foamy.
2.
Add oil, remaining
3
â
4
cup plus 3 tablespoons water, and salt to well in flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until ingredients begin to come together into a dough. Mix in remaining flour with your hands.
3.
Knead dough vigorously on a work surface about 10 minutes or until very smooth and no longer sticky. Flour lightly during kneading if dough is very sticky. Put dough in a clean oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until light but not doubled.
4.
Shape bagels (see
Shaping Bagels
). Then preheat oven to 400°F. Set out a cloth for draining boiled bagels. To boil bagels, bring 2 quarts water and 1
1
â
2
tablespoons sugar to a boil in a large saucepan. Add 3 or 4 bagels and boil 1 minute. Turn them over and boil 1 minute. If holes begin to close, force them open with handle of a wooden spoon. With a slotted spoon, transfer bagels to a cloth or to paper towels. Repeat with remaining bagels.
5.
Lightly flour 2 or 3 baking sheets. Transfer bagels to the sheets. Brush them lightly with beaten egg, if using. Sprinkle with seeds, if using. Bake bagels about 20 minutes or until browned; if baking sheets don't fit on center rack, bake sheets one above the other and switch their positions after 10 minutes. If not serving them right away, cool them on a rack and wrap them.
Unlike many whole-wheat bagels, these are not very sweet so they are good with both savory and sweet accompaniments. I like them with mozzarella or goat cheese and with sliced red onions, tomatoes, and roasted red peppers.
2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
3
â
4
cup lukewarm water
1 envelope dry yeast (
1
â
4
ounce or 2
1
â
2
teaspoons)
2 teaspoons brown sugar or honey
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 or 3 large eggs
1
3
â
4
teaspoons salt
1
â
2
cup chopped walnuts
1
1
â
2
tablespoons sugar (for boiling)
1.
Sift both types flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Pour in
1
â
4
cup lukewarm water. Sprinkle yeast on top and add 1 teaspoon brown sugar. Leave 10 minutes until yeast is foamy. Add remaining brown sugar, oil, 2 eggs, remaining water, and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until ingredients begin to come together into a dough. When mixing with a spoon becomes difficult, mix in remaining flour using your hands.
2.
Knead dough vigorously on a work surface until very smooth and no longer sticky, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle dough with walnuts and knead dough to mix them in. Put dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place about 1
1
â
2
hours or until light but not doubled.
3.
Shape bagels (see
Shaping Bagels
). Then, preheat oven to 400°F. To boil bagels, bring 2 quarts water and 1
1
â
2
tablespoons sugar to a boil in a large saucepan. Add 3 or 4 bagels and boil 1 minute. Turn them over and boil 1 minute. If holes begin to close, force them open with handle of a wooden spoon. With a slotted spoon, transfer them to a cloth or to paper towels. Repeat with remaining bagels.
4.
Put bagels on 2 or 3 lightly floured or greased baking sheets. If you want to glaze bagels, beat remaining egg with a pinch of salt. Brush egg over bagels. Bake about 20 minutes or until browned; if baking sheets don't fit on center rack, bake them one above the other and switch their positions after 10 minutes. If not serving them right away, cool them on a rack and wrap them.
Bagels: From Jewish Treat to Global Delight
Fresh bagels with lox and cream cheese are the quintessential
Jewish brunch treat. In our family, we have always loved this wonderful combination.
Bagels were brought to the United States by Ashkenazic Jews. In the old days they were served with a little butter, as lox was too expensive. Bagels used to be available only in American cities with substantial Jewish populationsâ at bagel bakeries and some supermarkets.
Bon Appètit
magazine presented bagels as a top trend in 1997, and now they have moved past a trend; they are loved and available everywhere.
And it's not just in the United States. In France, for example, poppy seed bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon are now sold at Fauchon's, Paris' showcase delicatessen.
Bagels are easy and fun to make at home. They taste great, often better than the ones you buy. When you bake your own, you don't add artificial flavorings, which I find mar the flavor of some commercially available bagels.
Because of their brief rising and baking time, bagels are one of the fastest yeast breads to make. What is unique about bagels is that they are boiled before they are baked. This gives them their special texture and enables them to bake quickly.
Bagel spreads of cream cheese mixed with chopped lox, chives, or other herbs are easy to make at home and, of course, much more economical. Besides, you can use the type of cream cheese you prefer and the amounts of seasonings to your own taste.
With bagels' new-found popularity, they have become available in numerous new flavors, from herbs to garlic to nuts to blueberry to chocolate chip. Although lox and cream cheese remains the favorite topping, today there is a much greater choice of spreads or "shmears," as they are called in Yiddish. Many of these spreads are now made with ingredients not at all associated with Ashkenazic cooking, like sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and goat cheese.